B.p. Marsh & Partners Share Discussion Threads

[cwa1] 10/1/2022 07:49

10 January 2022

B.P. Marsh & Partners Plc

("B.P. Marsh", "the Company" or "the Group")

Investee Company Update - LEBC Holdings Limited

B.P. Marsh & Partners Plc (AIM: BPM), the specialist investor in early-stage financial services businesses, notes the announcement from Tavistock Investments Plc ("Tavistock") regarding their investment in LEBC Holdings Limited ("LEBC").

Tavistock has agreed to acquire 21% of LEBC Holdings Limited from Marie McVitie, the widow of LEBC's founder and former Chief Executive, the late Jack McVitie. The acquisition is subject to customary approval from the Financial Conduct Authority.

The consideration paid by Tavistock to Marie McVitie for her shareholding in LEBC will be GBP10m. This implies a 100% equity valuation for LEBC of GBP44.5m, which underpins the Company's own valuation of LEBC at 31 July 2021 of GBP25m for its 59% shareholding.

Tavistock is an AIM listed financial services group that has over 175 advisers across the UK helping 40,000+ clients look after more than GBP4 billion of investments.

B.P. Marsh, alongside LEBC's Management Team, look forward to working with Tavistock to support LEBC in entering the next phase of development and growth.

Commenting on this new partnership, the Group's Chief Investment Officer, Dan Topping stated:-

"B.P. Marsh welcomes Tavistock as our new investment partner in LEBC. This is a great opportunity for all businesses involved, with there being a number of synergies to be implemented over the coming months.

"This transaction with Tavistock further endorses our investment mantra of supporting our original partners to secure an exit when needed, whilst also supporting our portfolio companies' underlying Management Teams."

Derek Miles, LEBC's Managing Director, stated:-

"On behalf of LEBC and its Management Team, I would like to welcome Tavistock as a new shareholder in LEBC.

"With the joint support of B.P. Marsh and Tavistock, I look forward to building on LEBC's strong track record of growth, taking the business forward in the best interest of all our stakeholders."

[shaker44] 22/12/2021 08:12

Great outcome and validation of
Pe in this case

[cwa1] 22/12/2021 07:19

Nice little disposal announced:-

Date: 22 December 2021

B.P. Marsh & Partners Plc

("B.P. Marsh", "the Company" or "the Group")

Investee Company Disposal - Walsingham Motor Insurance Limited

B.P. Marsh, the specialist investor in early-stage financial services businesses, is pleased to announce that on 21 December 2021 the Group sold its stake in investee company Walsingham Motor Insurance Limited ("WMIL"), a London-based Managing General Agency, which specialises in UK Courier and Taxi fleet motor insurance.

B.P. Marsh sold its 40.5% shareholding in WMIL for GBP4.6m in cash. As part of this transaction, the Group will receive a further GBP0.2m in cash from its 20% shareholding in Walsingham Holdings Ltd, resulting in total proceeds of GBP4.8m alongside the repayment of GBP0.3m in loans.

WMIL has been acquired by Humn.ai Limited ("Humn"), a London-based insurance provider producing real-time data-driven fleet insurance.

The Group initially invested GBP0.3m in WMIL in December 2013, with total equity investment to date of GBP0.6m. In addition, the Group provided GBP1.2m in loans which were subsequently fully repaid. The Group also invested in Walsingham Holdings Ltd in May 2018 and provided GBP0.3m in loans to enable it to acquire 11.7% in equity of WMIL from an exiting shareholder. Over the eight years following the initial investment, WMIL has grown its Gross Written Premium from start-up to over GBP26m.

In total, including the amounts receivable from both WMIL and Walsingham Holdings Ltd, this disposal represents a multiple of eight times the equity invested. This represents a 23% uplift over the valuation announced at 31st July 2021 of GBP3.9m, and an Internal Rate of Return of 22% (inclusive of all income and fees).

The disposal of WMIL is in keeping with B.P. Marsh's strategy of investing for the long term in start-up and early stage businesses with ambitious management teams. This allows the Company to work with management to help grow their business, before disposing of its stake at a beneficial time for both B.P. Marsh, management and the investee company itself.

CEO of WMIL, Garry Watson, commented:

"It has been a pleasure working with the B.P. Marsh team over the past years and their contribution and support has been invaluable in getting Walsingham to where we are today."

Commenting on the disposal, the Group's Finance Director and Nominee Director on the Board of WMIL, Jon Newman, commented:

"It has been a pleasure to work with Garry Watson, Martin Gray and the whole team at WMIL over the past eight years and to see the business grow and flourish. The acquisition by Humn offers an exciting future for them, and we wish everyone at WMIL every success.

"The sale of our stake in WMIL at an IRR of 22% is another example of B.P. Marsh being able to identify niche opportunities to back successful management teams and to successfully realise value for our shareholders. This demonstrates the benefits of our investment process which has proven successful over a number of years."

[charlotte2020] 25/10/2021 19:11

Pathetic that. Sales need to be accelerated

[cwa1] 25/10/2021 16:16

Monster purchase :-))

[shaker44] 22/10/2021 13:19

Just top sliced a few as getting a bit overweight and can't see what will drive share price higher short term. Other than me selling a few of course!

[its the oxman] 21/10/2021 16:06

Some steady buying, could see 350p soon.

[its the oxman] 19/10/2021 17:08

Yes lebc should be on a better footing going forward. Hoping it can start to add some value.

[1tx] 19/10/2021 11:44

Very pleased with how the insurance investments continue to progress.I admit I have a concern with the value ascribed to LEBC,the financial adviser,looking at its accounts over recent years it seems to be making a substantial loss,the area of pension "equity release" in which it was involved is a risky area.The most recent public accounts for LEBC are to 2020 so hopefully the improvements indicated will appear at net profit level this year.I have been a shareholder here for 9 years & obviously have had an excellent return but at the moment I feel the 20% discount to NAV is about right.

[its the oxman] 19/10/2021 08:50

Yes , further increase in nav to 430p, and presume latest addition to nexus is after year end so not in figures. Might we get tipped again as well?

[cwa1] 19/10/2021 08:46

Markets seem happy with today's news. Still a long way to go I hope!

Interim results:-



Commenting on the results, Brian Marsh OBE, Chairman, said:

"This is a good set of results for the Company, and the continuation of a long trend of strong portfolio growth.

"We continue to believe in our strategy of investing in people with ambition, and a track record of delivering within their sectors, and this again has been borne out by these results. The Group has also demonstrated its flexibility with our most recent exit from MB Prestige Holdings PTY Limited, highlighting the agile nature of the business and its ability to extract value from its investments.

"Looking forward, we continue to seek investment opportunities into new businesses, to diversify our portfolio further, and increase investor returns."

and investee company update:-



Commenting on the refinancing, the Group's Chief Investment Officer, Dan Topping stated:-

"B.P. Marsh were delighted to be able to introduce CBC to Coutts.

This is part and parcel of our investment ethos and an example of how we support portfolio companies as they go through their various stages of development.

With the ongoing support of the Group, alongside Coutts, we look forward to seeing CBC continue to grow over the coming years. "

[its the oxman] 08/10/2021 09:41

Yes bpm at massive discount to nav buying nexus shares at discount to their nav / or last valuation at least. Where will it end? A premium listing one day. Nexus is becoming quite a significant business now with plenty of growth ahead. Market asleep to this for now.

[shaker44] 08/10/2021 09:20

Bpm definitely undervalued

[its the oxman] 08/10/2021 09:13

If my maths are correct it looks like these nexus shares were purchased at a significant discount. Fairly shrewd hopefully and fairly standard as nexus shares are not openly traded, limited buyers etc , rather than any indication the value of nexus has fallen. Should see an immediate uplift on the purchase.

[its the oxman] 08/10/2021 08:31

Got to move closer to 400p soon.

[its the oxman] 08/10/2021 08:29

Yes , it looks a very positive move, could be material down the line, Nexus clearly doing well with management/staff well incentivised to strongly grow the business and its equity valuation.

[cwa1] 08/10/2021 08:27

Investee Company Update & Further Investment- Nexus Underwriting Management Limited

B.P. Marsh & Partners Plc (AIM: BPM), the specialist investor in early-stage financial services businesses, is pleased to announce that Nexus Underwriting Management Limited ("Nexus"), the independent specialty Managing General Agency ("MGA"), has successfully completed a refinancing exercise which sees GBP4m of loans repaid to B.P. Marsh over two years earlier than expected. Simultaneously to this refinancing, B.P. Marsh has acquired a further 2.49% shareholding in Nexus, from a founding shareholder.

[its the oxman] 09/9/2021 12:14

Today's update seems very positive and given high growth acquisitive nature of most holdings bpm should keep delivering and some if nexus comes to market, has to happen at some point. Lebc picking up could add nicely as well over next few years possibly. Still massively under nav so next results will be interesting.

[rmillaree] 09/9/2021 10:28

I hold here and am very happy with progress. My only slight worry is with the small amount of deals they do each year - can we expect them to keep delivering say 10% annual compoudned growth ? I guess thats my choice to make as the company certainly have delivered everything on the tin when i bought and have been consistent in what they do for many years - albeit i was (still am) kinda hoping when i bought that a Nexus listing might give me a decennt route to exit if that unlocks some of the disoount to tangible book value?

[cwa1] 09/9/2021 07:20

Trading Statement...

[davebowler] 06/9/2021 20:34

Thanks, here it is ... htTPs://www.sharesmagazine.co.uk/events/event/shares-investor-webinar-080921

[bscuit] 06/9/2021 20:10

Presentation via A J Bell - registration required - 1800 Wednesday

[cwa1] 06/9/2021 16:55

ii "analysis":-

[cwa1] 03/9/2021 10:13

Small director purchase:-